Manley Hot Springs

If I didn’t believe it already, I do now… keeping a blog is the way I want to preserve memories. In 2016, Jenna and I went on a Labor Day flying adventure, with Sadie. It was our first big one together and, as she’s the only that really enjoys flying with me, we decided we both enjoyed it and would like to do more.

I posted about the adventure on Facebook, but the blog is the full chronicle of my life and this was a highly memorable adventure. Now, since this is two years after the fact, my description will be a little abbreviated, but still worthy.

We started with a gorgeous flight up to Fairbanks. The weather was perfect, and we ate lunch at the airport, sitting in the sun. Our departure was Manley, which is approximately an hour northwest of Fairbanks. We headed out. Earlier in the day a small spring in my door had broken and the door wouldn’t stay shut. A bungee fixed that, but we had to keep a close eye on Sadie to make sure she didn’t lean up against it much.

We landed in Manley and walked in to town, probably less than a mile. At the roadhouse, there is a phone in the back of the room and you call a lady to make an appointment at the hot springs. There was a spot open first thing the following morning, so we took it.

That night we had a nice dinner at the local roadhouse (https://www.manleylodge.com/). There is nothing better than being out in remote Alaska, at a historic location, enjoying a cold beer and good food. I love the feeling of the roadhouses, especially when they aren’t overcrowded, like what can happen in Talkeetna. Manley is on the road system, but a pretty long haul to get there. In the dining room with us was another couple, with twins, that were spending a couple days there. They had flown their 182 in and we enjoyed visiting with them.

We slept under our plane and the next morning got up early to a chilly fall morning in the north. We walked in to town and met the lady at the pools, which are fed by the springs. Jenna and I enjoyed a wonderful soak in the concrete pools. The greenhouse these pools are in a botanical garden exploding with plants and vines. It feels like you’re entering a wonderland and it plays with your senses, since you know how far north we’re located and what the winters are like. As we walked back to the plane, we were radiating heat from our inner core.

We ate and packed up, ready to head somewhere south, depending on the weather. The sunny skies had disappeared, and we were looking at scattered clouds and low ceilings. We decided to head to Talkeetna and see if we could meet up with the rest of the family for a pizza lunch. We made it in but had to dodge a few clouds along the way.

The way home from Talkeetna was clear sailing, but with low ceilings pushing all the traffic down close to the ground, I didn’t let Jenna nap much. We touched down safely at Lake Hood and both agreed it was a wonderful first adventure and more were in store.